An angry airline passenger ate an €10,000 winning scratchcard after he was told he could not claim the money immediately.

The unnamed man was flying with Ryanair from Krakow, in Poland, to East Midlands Airport when he won €10,000 with the scratch card.

Cabin crew on the flight confirmed he had a winning card, but told the passenger he would have to collect the jackpot directly from the company that runs the competition as they did not have enough cash on board the plane.

Ryanair said the man then became frustrated and started to eat his winning ticket while on the flight on Thursday.

His rash actions mean he has lost any chance of claiming the prize money, which will now be donated to charity.

Stephen McNamara, a spokesman for Ryanair, said the cabin crew and some passengers had attempted to persaude the man not to eat the ticket, but he stood up and ate it anyway.

Stephen McNamara, a spokesman for the airline, said: "Passengers have always been delighted to claim their large cash prizes after returning home.

"Unfortunately our latest winner felt that we should have his €10,000 prize kicking around on the aircraft.

"Crew tried to stop the air Gourmet Scratch Card eater by offering him one of our great tasting sandwiches, pizzas or snacks instead, but clearly he had much more expensive tastes!

Ryanair is now asking passengers to vote online to decide where the money should go.